TWO ALUMNAE of the UST Graduate School of Law have proposed bills at the Senate aimed at strengthening the Philippines’ legal framework for addressing climate change and environmental harm.
Gay Christine Cortes-Lopez pushed for a measure to establish a legal framework for pricing carbon emissions.
The bill seeks to create a scientific and legal basis for implementing carbon pricing in the Philippines, incentivize emission reductions and align national policies with the UN Sustainable Development Goals on clean energy, decent work and economic growth and industry innovation.
Lopez, a member of the class of 2025, graduated cum laude with a Master of Laws degree from the University.
She practices at the Cortes-Lopez Law Office and has been a partner at Buñag and Cortes Law Office since 2018. Previously, she served as a tax attorney at the Office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue at the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Meanwhile, Judge Rebecca Austria Guillen-Ubaña, a Doctor of Civil Law candidate, proposed a separate bill seeking the creation of a “Kalikasan Court” with powers equivalent to those of the Court of Appeals.
The proposed court aims to centralize and fast-track environmental cases, improve access to justice in environmental disputes and draw from both Philippine law and foreign models of specialized environmental tribunals.
Ubaña is pursuing her doctoral degree at the UST Graduate School of Law and serves as presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 40 in Manila.
Both legislative proposals stemmed from their respective thesis and dissertation work, under the guidance of their advisers: Assoc. Prof. Manuel Peter Solis, for Lopez and Judge Charito Macalintal-Sawali of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 66 in Tanauan City for Ubaña.
The draft bills were formally transmitted to the Senate in a ceremony attended by UST Graduate School of Law Dean Atty. Jacqueline O. Lopez-Kaw, Regent Rev. Fr. Dexter Austria, O.P., and Faculty Secretary Asst. Prof. Leidy May Alnajes. UST also credited lawyer Marivic Laurel Garcia, deputy secretary for legislation, for facilitating the University’s connection with Sen. Loren Legarda. F
